 he Quartermaster General's Department was responsible for the acquisition of tents, spades, shovels, clothing, food, straw, and other camp equipage or furniture. Horses, oxen and wagons were also needed for transportation.
 n March 23, 1778, George Washington persuaded Nathanael Greene to take over as the Quartermaster General. Green was a successful private businessman before the war. He applied his managerial talents to the sustenance of the Continental Army.
 reene's most outstanding contribution during his early days as Quartermaster General was the development of an extensive system of grain depots capable of supplying forage to Washington's forces wherever they might be. This system was based on a flexible geographical line running from the Hudson River to northeastern Maryland. Green instructed his field agents that in "forming" their depots they should "give all sorts of grain the preference to wheat -oats first; corn next; rye next, and so on."
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